Geroge W Bush Shoe Attack: shoes thrown at Bush in Iraq (video)

After successfully sneaking out of the United States and making a rare daytime landing in Iraq, George W. Bush didn't exactly expect the welcome he received. In what critics say was a victory lap of a visit, Bush was the recipient of a nasty shoe throwing incident during his press conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The US president was called a "dog" and accorded the supreme insult in Muslim culture. In a sign of lingering anger over the war that will define the Republican president's foreign policy legacy, an Iraqi journalist shouted in Arabic "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," and hurled his shoes at Bush during the news conference.

Throwing shoes at somebody is a supreme insult in the Middle East. The president, however, showed he is still able to dodge and weave quite well with the shoe toss. The first shoe was heading straight for the head of George W. Bush but he made a quick move to get out of the way. Maliki tried to block the second shoe which only narrowly missed its mark.

Speaking about the incident later, George W. Bush didn't quite get the insult that was thrown at him, or was he just trying to save face. "It's like going to a political rally and have people yell at you. It's a way for people to draw attention," Bush said. "I don't know what the guy's cause was. I didn't feel the least bit threatened by it." Yeah, right. Anyone who gets a shoe, or anything for that matter, thrown at him must feel threatened, disrespected and insulted. I certainly would. (You can watch the video below.)

Bush's fleeting visit to Baghdad was aimed at marking the recent passage of a U.S.-Iraq security pact that paves the way for U.S. troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by July next year and withdraw completely by the end of 2011. It was also meant to hail a recent sharp fall in the sectarian violence and insurgency that raged after the 2003 U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, and to show support for Iraqi police and soldiers as they take on increasing responsibility.

Asked whether he had come to Iraq on a victory lap, Bush said: "No, I consider it an important step on the road toward an Iraq that can sustain itself, govern itself and defend itself. There's still more work to be done. The war is not over."

However, whatever was said or done in his Iraq visit, and whatever significance it may have for him and his administration, all of these have been overshadowed by the shoe throwing incident. The video has become a hit on YouTube and it will be the subject of ridicule in late night talk shows for days to come. Watch out for it!